I often wonder what kind of impact the creative work we make will have on the generation we make it for. Will they watch it? Will they play act it? Will they talk about it with their friends? Will they think about it when they get older?
For my generation (call us Generation Y or Millennials, I suppose), it's undeniable that television has had an influence on our adults lives. From PeeWee Herman's Broadway debut to Rainbow Brite pint glasses, nostalgic media is everywhere. This heavy influence was very apparent last Friday evening at the Bowery Ballroom, where Pete and Pete themselves, along with Artie, Ellen, and Mom and Dad came out to share clips and stories about the much-loved '90s series. Show creators William McRobb and Chris Viscardi opened the evening by introducing The Blowholes playing some favorite Polaris hits.
My favorite moment of the evening was hearing Will and Chris talk about creating the show. It all started as a series of promotional interstitials for Nickelodeon, showing the life of kids from the kid point of view. When developing the series, they decided to concentrate "on the backyard and the magic that happens there." They had an opportunity to define what childhood was all about. They also cited that the show had a meta-nostalgic feel to it. Their definition of childhood was based on all the things they loved and wanted from their own childhoods.
This great interview was posted days before the reunion. "Nostalgia shit for aging hipsters." That's my favorite kind!
Don't be a blowhole. Show your '90s TV love and let it inspire your work.
As expected, last night's Women in Children's Media event was fantastic. The event was part of the Writer's Workshop monthly series, and featured Elly Kramer. Elly is a director of production and development for Nickelodeon Preschool. Basically, she is kick-ass.
We discussed how her department works to acquire and grow content at Nickelodeon. Perhaps my favorite quote of the night was, "Development never stops once the show gets picked up." That just goes to show that Nickelodeon is committed to providing interesting and relevant content to its viewers.
She reminded us that Nickledeon has an open submissIon policy, which is great! This means you can submit your content, music, or art, pretty much at any time. She recommended doing so at NickPitches.com. This seems to be a particularly useful resource for visual artists and musicians, who can be added to Nick's database through the site.
I recently introduced a yoga curriculum to my Kindergarten students. We started by sitting in a circle together "cris-cross applesauce" and breathing. I would tell stories about adventures we would take through the dessert, on the ocean, in a forest, etc., and we would make simple shapes with our bodies while we told the story. I recently invested in a set of Yoga Pretzel cards. One of my students had them and enjoyed using them with her sister. I was surprised that they actually read the step-by-step instructions (also in picture form) and recreated the poses together. I used the cards during my next group activity, and the kids loved them! Yoga Pretzel cards are now a choice during our exploration time. I was so surprised how many children wanted to have a turn! I was especially shocked at how capable they were of entering the poses using only the cards. I ended up monitoring the activity for support in case they needed help balancing or needed guidance getting into the pose. For the most part, they played independently. I'm so surprised yoga hasn't taken a more mainstream role in children's media. I recall reading about the process of creating Ni Hao, Kai-Lan in the book Anytime Playdate. Originally it was a series of interstitials called Downward Doghouse based around a yoga curriculum. I've tried to find video footage, but it is nearly impossible! I haven't watched very much of the show, but it seems as if Chinese culture and language are the basis of the curriculum in the current incarnation of the series. This series teaches Chinese language in a very similar fashion as Dora teaches Spanish. I look forward to seeing what kind of yoga program will become popular! I never realized what a wonderful experience it was for kids to participate until I saw my own students enjoying it.
Hello! Thank you for reading my blog. This semester, I plan to use the internet to track and journal about my academic readings, research, and the creative process of developing a children's television series. TV is dead, you say? I beg to differ. Although television isn't being watched in the traditional sense, series are being watched on demand, on the internet, and on telephones.
I've spent a great deal of time thinking of a clever name for the blog. In the midst of a mini-road trip this weekend, I thought a great deal about Mac's branding. The iBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. It seems as if we are putting this "i" in front of everything representative of technological advances. That's when I started thinking about "iGeneration" as a phrase for the current generation of young children who know more about social networking than I do. With the lyrics to "My Generation" stuck in my head, I immediately turned on my computer and googled the word in hopes that it was unsearchable. Much to my dismay, someone had already thought of this as an alternative to Generation Z (What the heck does the Z stand for, anyway?). Wikipedia has this to say about the iGeneration:
I am excited to begin my exploration of children's television content development and look forward to reading your comments, answering your questions, and pondering your ideas. I'd like to conclude my first post with a music video that I have been thinking a lot about recently. Some of my heroes include Fred Rogers, Joan Gantz Cooney, and Jim Henson. They were all visionaries who were unafraid of making change in children's media. Their ideas and creativity have had a profound influence on my work as an artist, teacher, and academic. I think regardless of our chosen path, the media we participate in as young people has an impact on our adult experience. Please check out this XYZ Affair video for their song "All My Friends." Can you ID all of the special guest stars?
